5 comments about Nude Photography: The Art and the Craft.

1. This is the best book I've seen on the subject of nudes yet. The author is thorough and the images speak for themselves. He's a master, brilliant! If I could only choose one book on the subject, this would be it.
   In the last section of the book, the author features other photographer's work and their motivations. That part was a let-down compared to Pascal's work, and the book would've been perfect without it.
   My only criticism of this and every other nude photography book I've seen, is that they portray models, very slim models, who all look alike, unlike everyday women, with weight and flaws and years, which to me shows more beauty than any of the professional models.



2. This is a good book at a great price. The photos are excellent with a lot of techniques and examples to fallow to get a great result. I would definitely buy again...



3. This book is a sturdy introduction to nude photography. For a person with undiagnosed adult ADD like myself this book was very useful. The chapters are laid out well with a lot of pictures and paragraphs next to them expressing various ideas and inspirations. It's important to convey a sense of direction and purpose when photographing naked people. I'd say the book has a lot of confidence. Try asking someone awkwardly to let you photograph them nude. Probably not going to happen. On a final note I'd buy this book just for the pictures even if I wasn`t into photography. Then it would probably get me into photography. I digress...great book.



4. I saw this book in a bookstore and thought, finally, a book with clear lighting schemes pictured side by side so its easier to compare them. A great book for the modern digital photography enthusiast. A very solid book on honing the craft of photography, nude or otherwise.



5. The latest photography offering from DK Publishing (Dorling Kindersley) is a glossy treatise on mastering the art of nude photography, from selection an approach to perfecting your chosen techniques and post-production tips and tricks. Author Pascal Baetens is a Belgian jack-of-all-trades who has specialized in portrait, fashion, travel, and nude photography in a range of industries (editorial, commercial, and private). The Baetens DK Nude Photography course opens with a historical perspective, followed by a lush academic discussion of nude photography styles. The meat of the book are sections on photography techniques (composition, lighting, posting, locations) and post-production (cropping, reframing, filtering, retouching).
   
   This oversized 250+ page hardcover concludes with a gallery of nude photography featuring the works of ten international artists, accompanied by biographical information, artist's notes, first-person essays, and behind-the-scenes set photos. Works of dozens of renowned artists appear throughout the instructional pages of this text, rendering it well-deserving of the cover price.

5 comments about The Complete Guide to Night and Low-Light Photography.

1. I found this book both very interesting and very helpful. There is a good amount of technique specific information as well as supporting photographs. There are amazing photographs to be taken by just using a tripod and the Bulb setting on the camera. The only downside is the book was published before digital photography really started to take off so all the information is presented using film and film cameras as the media. An updated version of this book could be useful.



2. As above its a very nice book, most of the topics will work for digital cameras, but its not aimed at digital cameras. Hopefully it will be updated one day.
   
   For the digital age its missing HDR photography and Software post processing and image manipulation
   
   it does mention digital cameras, but they take up 1/2 of one page in the book, and the cameras they talk about have "mega pixel" imaging. A far cry from todays 10 and 12 megapixel cameras.



3. I received an email about a new edition of this book coming out the 18th of March .
   I ordered it .
   Today I got an email saying I would arrive Friday or Saturday [ today ]
   It came today . It's the 2006 version - it's the same as the other copy I have .
   This book is mainly for film and very little on Digital cameras .I wanted some more information on Digital .
   I'm not sending back but won't be buying from this writer and try to find same stuff on a different web site .



4. This book is split into chapters dealing with different subjects relating to low light photography. All the chapters are easy (and fun) to read, and the pictures are great. But what I like best about this book is that it will give you very specific advice. It's not some dull, try-until-you-get-it-right advices, but it will tell you exactly which aparture and shutter speed to use in a given situation. Why doesn't everybody do it this way?



5. I have to agree with anybody who has a negative review about this book. The author clearly wanted only to portray his "artwork" and make money off it by writing this useless book. Even a novice photographer like myself could get nothing worth while out of it. I am extremely disappointed in my purchase and I wasted a lot of money considering I have not even a handful of new knowledge to show for it. If you want to "learn" and get your moneys worth than I suggest spending your dollar on any of the Amherst Media books.

5 comments about Nikon D50 Digital Field Guide.

1. I love the way the author walk me through on using the D50 by Nikon and his tips on photography was more than I expect on book about a camera. In fact the author inspired me to work harder with the camera and gave me wonderful ideas on using the camera.



2. The D50 was my third DSLR after two Canons...a 10D and a 300D. I got this Nikon D50 and immediately liked it better than the Canons. So much so that I've already upgraded to a D70s, sold it and upgraded again to the D80. Now I'm looking for a good deal on the D300.
   
   But, back to the D50 Field manual (which I sold with the D50). Good book, clear text and nice slick pages and color photos. Sure it talks a lot to generic DSLR photography but it also addresses specific functions of the D50 in great detail. Did I like it ...yeah! How much? Well...I'm waiting for my D80 Field manual to arrive and if I ever get the D300, well I'll probably get a Field manual for it too!! This is a Good Buy!!!



3. The "Nikon D50 Digital Field Guide" is more than just that it is a D50 owners necessity. This will easily explain how digital images taken specifically with your D50 gives insight to the menues and electronic functions of the D50.



4. Why do manufacturers of such splendid kit as the D50 supply such impenetrable manuals? It wasn't until I bought the D50 Field Guide that I was able to fathom and use many useful features. Excellent and heartily recommended. A bit big for my back pocket, but you can't have everything!



5. This book is a big help for the beginner to digital photography, with very easy to understand illustrations and tips. It is a good tool to keep close to your camera bag for quick and easy reference.

5 comments about Listography Journal: Your Life in Lists.

1. This book is great, I tend to obsess over lists and this book is awesome for that. Some questions are a little goofy, but that's definately the fun of it. The illustrations fit the tone of the book perfectly! Highly recommended for anyone who's looking for a fun way to kill some time.



2. sometimes hard to write a journal. this book let's you look back at your life by giving you simple topics, letting you remember things you might not have remembered if you just sat down to write your story. can be left as a list, or you can take what you write in the book and expound on it to give complete stories and how you felt at the time. such a simple idea, but so effective for people like me that feel overwhelmed by the thought of keeping a record of everything



3. I really liked this book because i love making lists and this book provides you with great questions. One, because it's things I wouldn't have really thought of listing on my own, and two because it's makes a list of things that you might later forget in life so it's like a mini biography



4. Visually it looks great! Kooky illustrations on nice paper - you do want to write in this journal. Plenty of room for your ideas. The pages are headed up with list topics and you just jot down "answers". I think the idea of the book is to add to the lists over a period of time, having a giggle at your previous comments. This is something that I do think I will continue, not like a journal which I can't keep going for longer than a month!



5. I bought this book for my friend for Christmas because she is always making lists and she loved it.

No comments about Art Models 3: Life Nude Photos for the Visual Arts (Art Models series).

5 comments about John Shaw's Closeups in Nature (Practical Photography Books).

1. This book really helped me develop some interesting concepts to adapt into my own work, and it introduced me to many things that you can do with lenses to take more interesting photographs.



2. Yeah, it's film centric but much of the information is great for digital too. If you are a wannabee, hobbiest nature photographer like myself, this is a great read.
   
   All of John Shaw's books are great. There is some overlap between them as he goes over the basics but they are all worth a read for any aspiring nature photographer.



3. This is a great book for all photographers. Even those just a little interested in close up photography. Recommended 4++++



4. This book would be very helpful to a true beginner lots of tips and explanations. Very easy to read and follow no rocket science here. I would recommend this to anybody who is starting out in closeup and or macrophotography



5. "Closeups in Nature has provided a good technical approach to closeup photography, especially for the amateur photographer. I was in need of information relative to lense specifications and technical data to try and sucessfully photograph some difficult subject for publication. THis book gave some very generic insight on how to start that photo process and some guidance on how to develope a personal technique.

3 comments about Facial Expressions Babies to Teens: A Visual Reference for Artists.

1. Maybe 3-1/2 stars. I actually prefer color photos on white paper, but this black & white reference is reasonably well done.
   
   It's very similar to Simon's other book Facial Expressions: A Visual Reference for Artists, except with an age range of 3 weeks(!) to teens about 19. Mid to dark backgrounds on grey paper is really not my thing, but it's the actual expressions that count.
   
   As with his other book, many of these expressions are extremely forced and odd, but it's great to see so many angles, ethnicities, genders and ages represented. There aren't many books like this right now. It's also somewhat of a personal book, in that the author's family is represented in pictures depicting their entire lives, from earliest photos til now, in order to show general age progression in people. A number of pictures are slightly blurry, but most pics in this book are crystal clear (or close to it). There's also 10 pages of kids wearing different styles of hats & headgear, to make this a more well-rounded presentation.
   
   Maybe this would be a better book with more average facial expressions. Maybe color would be better, but black & white keeps this cost-effective. I'd still get Simon's photo reference guides while they're still in print. Many expressions books like this tend to disappear after a while. (Or at least they used to...).



2. A ton of good photos to work from here. As always you may never find just the right photo to work from but with this many photos in one book you will come much closer to finding what your looking for.
   I could cry about the printing being to dark or wine about some of the grainy pics but hay for this price and not having to put up with a real brat and there over baring mother this is worth it (thats a joke honey).
   I have drawn a bunch of kids from life and most kind of like it but to get anyone to hold those cool odd faces is not being realistic.
   I have used the other face book more then you might think and sure hope to use this one as much.
   This book just makes my giggle every time I pick it up with the goofy faces these kids come up with.
   When I can't work from life a book like this is just what I need.



3. I own both Facial Expression books by Mr. Simon and for such a popular series you'd think they'd invest in a better photographer or a better camera. A lot of the photos, especially in this edition are very blurry and grainy. Though you don't need super well-taken photos to capture someone's facial expression it would have been nice if they would have upped the quality in this edition. I imagine it is difficult to direct children, but a lot of the expressions used were very similar too. This version has about the same amount of photos as the last, but they are a bit larger. I believe they made this change because one page after each person captured wasn't reserved for an illustration. This was a welcome change for me because a lot of the artists used in the previous book did sub-par work and some only re-drew the photograph of the person without applying the facial expression to something less obvious like an object or a fictional character. Overall, my satisfaction with this book is mixed. The first edition was far better because of the image quality, but it is nice to have references of children's expressions. Having little books to compare these 2 to, I had to give this 3 stars.

No comments about Hedi Slimane: Rock Diary.

5 comments about Diane Arbus Revelations.

1. this book as good, as good is phptographer Diane Arbus, good hard cover, good printed, and its not just an album, it contains lot of interesting information worth to discovery, I truely recomend this book for everyone who likes "real" things



2. Diane Arbus' works reflect for me, the tragic echoes of an artist's disconnected soul in search of kinship. I believe her subjects reflected this inner state in its polarity - from the curiously delightful to the stark nakedness of oddity. "What do i see when i look in the mirror? I search for you, to document your being, your existence, your very breath because you rebel for me, against all that they say is conventional, permissable and normal. i record your pneuma and the beauty of your unorthodoxy."
   Be delighted to own this book if you truly appreciate art and the soul that creates it. You won't be disappointed.



3. The legacy of dead artists is always in the hands of others. As Doon Arbus, Diane's daughter, laments, some go way to far in "analyzing" the work of her mother. (For a particularly abominable and repulsive example of this, see Anthony Lee and John Stultz's "Diane Arbus: Family Albums".)
   
   This gigantic Arbus exhibition was mounted by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. It features 200 Arbus photos, spanning her entire work and more than 300 auxillary images of her notebooks, darkroom and so on.
   
   There are several short, informative and informed essays (unlike the aforementioned "Family Albums).
   
   The production is gorgeous.
   
   What is unfortunate about Arbus' work is that it is rarely explained in detail. People see Arbus' work and conclude that she really saw these weird people in the wild, so to speak. The reality is shown in fair detail here. For example, Arbus' absolute classic "Child with a toy hand grenade in Central Park" is shown with a contact sheet making it clear that Arbus took the one image that showed this little boy in a freakish pose. The other 11 images show a normal young boy playing. But Arbus wanted her subjects to appear as if they were trying out for a freak show. That was her point. That's why, for example, Arbus photographed "Dominatrix embracing her client" instead of a family picnic with everyone smiling for the camera.
   
   Arbus - and this exhibition demonstrates the point - used electronic flash and high contrast to make her subjects appear weird. Weird was Arbus' metier. You can see this again in the contact sheet from which her freakish "Boy at a parade" is taken. Arbus does not print the sprightly looking woman holding a "Support Our Boys" sign and an American flag. No, she prints the pimply faced, self-concious boy wearing a plastic straw hat, a bow tie and carrying an American flag. She prints it because the harsh strobe makes the uncomfortable boy look like a freak.
   
   Arbus was fascinated by the unsual, including twins and triplets. She suffered from various psychological problems, possibly alcoholism and drug addiction and killed herself.
   
   She left behind a magnificient body of work, one that too often (again, see the awful "Family Albums") is subjected to academic balderdash.
   
   In "Dane Arbus: Revelations", Arbus the person, Arbus the photographer is presented in splendid detail. It's a marvelous work.
   
   Jerry



4. I had the great fortune to see Revelations in person when the show was at the MET in NYC in 2004. There is nothing like seeing actual prints in person but this gorgous book is the next best thing. The paper stock is top notch as is the binding. I proudly display this book on my coffee table for family and friends to enjoy.



5. Diane Arbus Revelations may be a bargain, price-wise. However, there are many other women photographers who have produced much finer photographs. To me this book reveals Arbus as one who used photographs very selectively to portray a distorted, negative view of a subject. She seemed to exploit gloom as a trademark to make herself unique and gain notice.
   
   The well-known Jewish Giant portrait of Eddie Carmel and his "dismayed" parents is a case in point of her deception. On page 300-301 is the enlargement of frame number 1 of the contact sheet shown on page 209. Obviously, it was hastily shot before the family was ready or in position for what they thought was to be a warm, family portrait. It was a trick pulled on the unsuspecting, and it does not truly represent anything other than people puzzling over where they should stand for the pictures to come.
   
   In contrast, from the contact sheet on page 164, she selected the most obviously contrived pose of the Child With A Toy Hand Grenade, which appears on page 104-105 and as the enlargement she is holding in the Steven Frank photograph on page 208.
   
   As a study in promoting a particular, melancholy viewpoint and imposing it on naive subjects kind enough to be photographed, this book may be useful. But for honest photography, there are other books.

5 comments about One Hundred & One Beautiful Small Towns in France (101 Towns).

1. Great price for this book--and it's very beautiful. My wife loves it, and I saved approximately 40%. Fantastic buy!



2. I shall be basing a few tours on this finely produced book but it gives only a tantalising introduction: the illustrations seem to emhasise the cathedrals - take Laon, for instance, it is an extraordinary fortress on a rock with fascinating labyrinths. I expect to find far more delights in the places we visit than the few that are hinted at. Great coffee table conversation piece.



3. This amazing book leads you through beautiful France with a gentle hand. It opens doors not otherwise available unless you have unlimited time to research across a wide range of texts. Each step into each Department ensures another ( and different ) breath catching sight into ancient and contemporary France. Even though it is a heavy ( weightwise) text it is essential
   to take it with you. The index in back of the book it a treasure trove of information that otherwise would not be available to you. I rate this book as one of my special treasures and will be taking it with me for the 2 months I intend spending in the south of France in September and October. Don't buy another book until you have put this treasure in your library even if just for pure pleasure of meandering through beautiful France.



4. It's nice if you want a VERY short overview of towns in France. If I had leafed through it in a bookstore, I probably would not have purchased it.



5. This item was exactly what I needed: birthday present coffee table book for discerning New Orleans doctor. It arrived promptly & was well packaged, too.